The beleaguered flagship N2 Gateway housing project, originally scheduled for completion in June 2006, will cost R3-billion when the 22,000 units are finally completed in around three years’ time.
This is R700-million more than the R2,3-billion initially projected by the national housing department for its flagship development when the project was launched in 2005. Project costs have already overrun the budget by R135-million.
Thery Ndopu, spokesperson for Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, said R200-million had already been spent on the project. So far 705 flats in Joe Slovo have been built…
While funding had been the first key challenge, Dyantyi said the relocation of families in Joe Slovo was now one of the project’s biggest obstacles.
He said the shacks at Joe Slovo needed to be removed so that essential services could be installed for Gap houses that would be built in the area.
However, the shack dwellers have refused to move.
Dyantyi said his department risked underspending on its N2 Gateway budget this year if these families wouldn’t move.
The project, a flagship pilot launched by the national government as part of its housing policy, has been mired in controversy. The project has been delayed by mismanagement, funding shortfalls, disputes with contractors about payments and complaints of inferior construction of units.
The National Home Builders Registration Council had to inspect some of the completed units earlier this year after complaints about shoddy construction work.
Residents who moved into the 705 completed units in September have complained about the high rents. Ndopu said the average rent was R750, going up to R1 100 for some tenants.
Thubelisha Homes, meanwhile, has issued a stern warning to residents who are refusing to pay rent…
In March, sub-contractors downed tools because they claimed they had not been paid. Dyantyi said no complaints had been received from contractors. Ndopu said sub-contractors worked for contractors and consortiums, such as Ibuyile, and that any payment dispute had to be dealt with by them.
With the findings of the city’s forensic audit and the auditor-general’s report on the N2 Gateway outstanding, allegations of work being done without signed contracts have yet to be refuted or confirmed.
Former mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo said in 2005: “This project is about rapid delivery. We have moved from concept to having the first contractor on site in only a few months. To achieve this we have had to push very hard. We have had to get rid of all unnecessary bureaucracy.”
The new DA-led administration sounded alarm bells about the reported absence of signed contracts for phase one. Mayor Helen Zille said in a letter to Sisulu in June last year: “The Joe Slovo 1 project has been undertaken without a proper policy framework and often without signed contracts.”
But Dyantyi and Ndopu denied that contracts were never signed. Dyantyi said bureaucracy had hindered the implementation of the project.
A reliable source who was closely involved with the N2 project, said the city failed to finalise its contract with Sombambisana, one of the consortiums working on phase one because of disagreement about the price. - Cape Times
This is R700-million more than the R2,3-billion initially projected by the national housing department for its flagship development when the project was launched in 2005. Project costs have already overrun the budget by R135-million.
Thery Ndopu, spokesperson for Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, said R200-million had already been spent on the project. So far 705 flats in Joe Slovo have been built…
While funding had been the first key challenge, Dyantyi said the relocation of families in Joe Slovo was now one of the project’s biggest obstacles.
He said the shacks at Joe Slovo needed to be removed so that essential services could be installed for Gap houses that would be built in the area.
However, the shack dwellers have refused to move.
Dyantyi said his department risked underspending on its N2 Gateway budget this year if these families wouldn’t move.
The project, a flagship pilot launched by the national government as part of its housing policy, has been mired in controversy. The project has been delayed by mismanagement, funding shortfalls, disputes with contractors about payments and complaints of inferior construction of units.
The National Home Builders Registration Council had to inspect some of the completed units earlier this year after complaints about shoddy construction work.
Residents who moved into the 705 completed units in September have complained about the high rents. Ndopu said the average rent was R750, going up to R1 100 for some tenants.
Thubelisha Homes, meanwhile, has issued a stern warning to residents who are refusing to pay rent…
In March, sub-contractors downed tools because they claimed they had not been paid. Dyantyi said no complaints had been received from contractors. Ndopu said sub-contractors worked for contractors and consortiums, such as Ibuyile, and that any payment dispute had to be dealt with by them.
With the findings of the city’s forensic audit and the auditor-general’s report on the N2 Gateway outstanding, allegations of work being done without signed contracts have yet to be refuted or confirmed.
Former mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo said in 2005: “This project is about rapid delivery. We have moved from concept to having the first contractor on site in only a few months. To achieve this we have had to push very hard. We have had to get rid of all unnecessary bureaucracy.”
The new DA-led administration sounded alarm bells about the reported absence of signed contracts for phase one. Mayor Helen Zille said in a letter to Sisulu in June last year: “The Joe Slovo 1 project has been undertaken without a proper policy framework and often without signed contracts.”
But Dyantyi and Ndopu denied that contracts were never signed. Dyantyi said bureaucracy had hindered the implementation of the project.
A reliable source who was closely involved with the N2 project, said the city failed to finalise its contract with Sombambisana, one of the consortiums working on phase one because of disagreement about the price. - Cape Times
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